By Jennifer Eisenbart
Editor
When Barbara Howard moved from Oshkosh to southeast Wisconsin recently to support her parents, she began looking for a job.
As it turns out, Love Inc. was looking for a new executive director – and the two turned out to be a perfect fit.
Howard was recently announced as Love Inc.’s newest director, replacing Bill Schoessling, who is retiring Dec. 18.
Howard was announced as the new director in the most recent newsletter from Love Inc., and introduced to the Burlington Rotary Club on Monday.
“This was a good decision for me,” said Howard Tuesday after being on the job for about three weeks. “I feel it’s a good fit.
“I already feel very comfortable here, because the people who work here are just so committed,” she added. “When I got here, I realized the scope of what they do here is probably even more than what I imagined.”
The press release from the Love Inc. Board of Directors said Howard would spend her first two months working in all areas of the organization, and would work closely with Schoessling in getting introduced to the area’s various service clubs and community leaders.
“The board received many applications for the executive director position from the community and local area,” the release states. “Barbara is passionate for our mission and her non-profit experience made her an ideal candidate.”
Howard, a graduate from Gateway Technical College in marketing and then Carroll College with a bachelor of arts degree in communication, has worked with a number of different groups in fund development – including the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, Girl Scouts of America and, most recently, the director of development for the Oshkosh YMCA.
Howard said the next logical step in her career was pursuing an executive director position.
Getting to Burlington when she did has allowed her to witness two of Love Inc.’s larger social service programs each year – the Thanksgiving dinner distribution, and the Adopt-a-Family Christmas program.
“First of all, it’s awesome the number of families we could give those boxes to,” Howard said of the Thanksgiving program. “Second, it was really organized. For someone who’s done a lot of events in the past, that’s something I always look at.”
As for Adopt-a-Family, Howard was amazed that families were able to come in, apply and be accepted – and then leave with what they needed.
“It speaks a lot to the community and its support,” she said.
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